Zucchini Lasagna
Zucchini Noodle Lasagna
This is a wonderful riff on traditional lasagna, replacing the noodles with strips of zucchini. The trick here is to roast them with salt and pepper. I roasted them the day ahead of time while I was roasting other veggies for dinner, which made this dinner feel a lot less task heavy. We layered ours with a creamy mix of farmers and Monterey jack cheese along with a veggie-tomato sauce and ground chicken. You can use whatever ground meat you like and adjust the sauce amounts and cheeses to your liking! This recipe is for an 8x8 glass dish - you would want to double it for a 9 x 13 glass pan.
Prep time: 60 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes plus 10 minutes resting time
Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
3-4 large zucchini, washed and cut lengthwise into ¼ to ½ inch strips
1 TBSP olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped spinach or greens
2 TBSP chopped parsley
1 pound ground chicken (we use dark meat)
1 cup tomato sauce (we use Rao’s)
1 egg
½ cup farmer’s cheese (you can also sub ricotta cheese, but we use lactose free cheese)
½ cup grated Monterey jack cheese (you can also sub mozzarella cheese, but we use aged low lactose cheeses)
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp each of dried basil, dried parsley and garlic powder (make sure your spices have no added starches)
½ cup of shredded or grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the zucchini slices on baking sheets - you may need more than one depending on the size.. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for 25 minutes. You can make this ahead of time and place in the fridge for a couple of days.
To make the ground chicken mixture, in a large sauce pan, sauté the chopped onions in olive oil for 4-5 minutes, add the spinach and parsley and sauté for a couple more minutes. Add the ground chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, then add a ½ cup of tomato sauce (you will use the rest later) and let simmer on low for 10-15 minutes. Note: We go easy on the tomato sauce, so if you like a saucier lasagna you can use a cup here.
To make the cheese mixture, in a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg with farmer’s cheese and Monterey jack cheese In a large bowl. Add in the sea salt and spices and mix well.
In your glass baking dish, place a layer of zucchini, then meat sauce, then cheese mixture (place dots around, it won’t cover the whole layer), do one more layer of all 3 and then one final layer of ½ cup of tomato sauce (use the remaining ½ cup) and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Note: we go easy on the cheese in general, so if you want a cheesier lasagna, you would double all of the ingredients for the cheese mixture.
In a 350 degree oven, bake the lasagna covered with tin foil for 20 minutes and then uncovered for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting - and enjoy! We love it hot and cold.